Mastering lead guitar basics is an art and a skill that comes with time and practice. In this very detailed article, you will find out how to play the pentatonic scale, do various string playing techniques, and various other essential guitar-playing skills that will help you to master lead guitar basics.

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Steps

Method 1 of 4: The Pentatonic Scale

1

Realize that a lot of people want to play lead. So you want to play lead, eh? Join the crowd. It's quite a mob - but luckily, they are all doing the same thing. You can do it, too.

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2

Learn the scale. The pentatonic minor scale is by far the biggest and hardest scale in hard rock music. And guess what? It's actually pretty easy, as scales go.

Here's the complete A minor pentatonic scale on all 6 strings, shown in tab:

---------------------5-8----

-----------------5-8--------

-------------5-7------------

---------5-7----------------

-----5-7--------------------

-5-8------------------------

3

Play this forward and backward, using alternating up and down pick strokes, at least 4,000 times a day or until you want to gag, whichever comes first.

4

Make sure to change keys by starting the whole pattern on different frets.

5

Keep the same number of frets between your fingers no matter where you start - the position changes but the pattern stays the same.

For example, here's the scale in C:

-------------------------8-11

---------------------8-11----

----------------8-10---------

-----------8-10--------------

------8-10-------------------

-8-11------------------------

6

Use the first and third fingers, if you can manage it. If not, use the first and fourth until you can.

7

Know that there are seven basic things you'll use to spice this up and make it a solo rather than just a scale.

String Bending

You push the string up or pull it down, causing it to bend and the pitch of the note to rise.

2

Use any available fingers that are hanging around doing nothing to help you bend the string.

3

Don't just bend it to any old random pitch, bend it so that the note you produce is the same as the one either 1, 2 or 3 frets above the fret you're on.

4

To make sure you're doing this correctly, bend the note up and listen to its pitch.

5

Then compare that to the pitch of the target note, which will be 1, 2, or 3 frets up.

Bending to the note 1 fret up is called a half bend.

Bending to the note 2 frets up is a whole bend.

And a bend that hits the note 3 or more frets up is an overbend. These, of course, are especially cool.

String Skipping

String skipping is also a technique that you wouldn't have to be Einstein to imagine the details of.

1

Basically, instead of going to the note on the next string in the scale, you just ignore that string and jump right down to the next note on the one below it.

2

You can skip as many strings as you heart desires, but be warned that skipping too many tends to make the scale sound kind of bizarre.

3

You can skip going up the scale, or going down it.

4

You can skip any time you like.

5

You can even skip school or work if you find this information so thrilling that you just can't bear it.

Slides

Slides are quite nifty.

1

Basically, instead of picking the next note in the scale, you just slide your finger up from the note you're on to the one you want.

2

If you want to add insult to injury, you can then pick the note, bend it, beat it silly, sue it for damages, or whatever suits your fancy.

3

Needless to say, you can also slide down from one note to a lower one.

Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs

1

Hammer-ons require a 16 ounce claw hammer to execute properly.

Use the hammer to break your fingers and save yourself the trouble of getting these right.

Nah, it's another joke. These are fairly easy when you try them. All you do is pluck one note in the scale, then bash down your ring finger to sound the next note without actually picking it.

Try this a few times and notice how if you do it rapidly, you instantly sound like you have some idea what you're doing.

2

Pull-offs are a similar idea, but they can be a bit trickier.

To do a pull off, you yank your ring finger off of one note, allowing the note held by the index finger to sound.

The thing is, you don't just lift off your finger, you drag the meaty part down and off the string so that it actually plucks a note.

Like a hammer-on, the idea is to get two notes for the price of one.

Mess around with this until clear notes start appearing, then combine it with a few hammer-ons and go to town.

For extra points, get it all working on the 5th and 7th frets of the G and D strings, and then pull off from the 5th fret to the open strings.

Get this working smoothly with the 5th fret, 7th fret, and open strings alternating, and enjoy the Eddie Van Halen-ness of it all.

However, if you don't like Eddie Van Halen, don't do this. You may be corrupted by the Dark Side.

Vibrato

Vibrato is simply bending the string very slightly over and over, very quickly.

1

The vibrato should come from the wrist, and it should cause the pitch of the note to waver or flutter rapidly.

2

There's not much more that can be explained about vibrato - you have to work it out for yourself.

Chromaticism

1

Chromaticism is the art of adding "passing notes," notes that aren't actually in the scale but serve to get you from one note to another with a little more spice or flash.

2

This is what the middle finger was made for (among other things) - but don't try sustaining these notes too often.

3

If you throw a bunch of them in quickly and let them carry you from one note of the scale to another, they can add some very nice touches.

4

But if you try to hold them or bend them as long, sustained notes, they can make you sound out of key (which is icky).

Method 2 of 4: Harmonics

1

It's not essential, but you'll probably want to add in some artificial harmonics as well.

These are the little dealies that make the notes sound extremely high pitched.

Ideally, they will scream for mercy like you would at an N'Sync concert.

2

To create them, all you do is let the flesh of your thumb briefly brush against the string while you pick it.

Doing this at different places on the string gives different harmonics - when you learn to control them at will, it's time for you to leave, grasshopper.

Natural harmonics are very similar, but completely different.

3

Understand that they can be most easily created at the 5th, 7th, 12th, and 19th frets by resting your finger very lightly directly over the metal fret without pressing the string down to the fingerboard, picking, and then very quickly lifting your finger off.

4

Get a feel for how these work and then crank the gain and create a few, using the whammy bar to let them plunge down from outer space. Oh yes, this is way beyond cool.

Method 3 of 4: Speed Picking

1

Speed picking is something you can use for a dramatic effect, or to play occasional blazing solos free of hammer-ons and pull-offs.

Basic hint: Get the heaviest pick you can find, and let it glide across the strings very lightly, at an angle.

2

If nothing else, you can use this technique to palm mute the first part of a solo on the lower strings (making it sound like it's building up to a huge thermonuclear explosion), and/or to go hopelessly and randomly chromatic in the highest frets you can reach.

3

Know that this makes a lot of very fast noise that looks and sounds impressive, even though it may take a lot of liberties with the song's key.

Method 4 of 4: One-Handed Tapping

One more thing - want to do one-handed tapping like Eddie Van Halen?

1

Toss the pick and use your right hand to do a hammer on and pull-off.

2

Alternate this with the standard left hand hammer-ons and pull offs, add shampoo, lather, rinse, and repeat.

3

People have been known to actually groan in disappointment when they found out how easy this super-flashy technique actually is.

4

While it may be called one-handed tapping, you do use both hands. Two-Handed Tapping is much more cynical and difficult to learn.

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